Anyone walking Camino Portugal right now?

[Sedona2012]

I just completed my first day Porto to Vilarinho. Very hard and no other pilgrims. I am a Casa Laura a gem of a place, perhaps the best of my two caminos. At the cafe next door, Cafe CJ with another kind owner who has fed me an excellent meal and is very kind.

I hope the road is easier tomorrow.

Bobbie

 

[peregrino_tom]

Hey Bobbie, hang on in there! I,m a few days behind you, but nice peregrina Rachel as just bussed it from coimbra to porto and goes on from there. I,ve met three other walking pilgrims in last 9 days but they say it,s quieter down here. Also look out for french gentleman on old bicycle - saw quite a lot of him today as he had 4 punctures... weather forecast tmrw is iffy but then the sun returns! Buen camino, tom

 

[peregrino_tom]

PS. It could be everyone else has taken the coastal option today and you'll join up with them tomorrow

 

[Sedona2012]

PS. It could be everyone else has taken the coastal option today and you'll join up with them tomorrow

Thanks Tom! In Bacelos tonight. Still have not seen any Pilgrims but the walk was better today. Where are you?

 

[peregrino_tom]

I'm way back in sao joao da madeira - the ugliest town centre i have ever seen! Desperate. Should make porto tmrw so way behind you. Rachel did coastal option yesterday staying in arcos, so not far behind you. Hang on in there!

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Bobbie, Hope you have found some companionship. For me, walking alone is fun, but spending nights alone in albergues is hard on the spirit, I find. I'm surprised to hear that there are no other pilgrims on the Portugues, because the numbers overall on that camino have really shot up.

And Tom, I agree with you abouat Sao Joao de Madeira -- it's hard to identify any aesthetic that would have led to constructing that projectile shooting straight up in the middle of the plaza. But there is a very nice old factory-turned museum on the way out of town. I didn't see it till the next morning when I left, but people later told me that it's a nice place and has a decent place to eat inside. The statuary in honor of the hat makers is nice, and I was surprised to learn about what a horrible unhealthy job it was -- all that dye and chemicals were not good for the workers.

When you have time, I'd love to hear about the rest of your trip -- since your're in Sao Joao, that means you're one of the few who started south of Porto. Where did you start, and how did you find the accommodations? I've heard from my friends at Vialusitana about all the new places, but when I walked it was pensiones all the way. Are you by chance staying in the residencial right in the plaza across from the lovely monument? If so, you'll have a nice breakfast treat if you eat in the cafe downstairs, where there are lots of warm, freshly homemade pastries from about 7 am on!

Bom caminho to you both! Laurie

 

[peregrino_tom]

Laurie - it,s uncanny - almost as if you are here...
I missed the museum, but the pastries in the cafe below the residencia (where I stayed) were damn fine.
I,ve taken copious notes about Lisbon to Porto which I intend to inflict upon the forum on my return...
I have found it a challenging way, with bad drivers, bad dogs and bad mosquitoes. But I find it hard to be critical as the portuguese people have been kind and generous to an extent that is humbling.
I spotted a brand new albergue coming out of Mealhada, but they really need to get some signage in place coming into the town or no-one will know it,s there until they walk past it the next morning.
PS Apologies for the Portuguese keyboard that I can.t work out after a bottle of fantastic local red, tom
PS Bobbie I gather there are 5 German pilgrims not far behind you, at Casa Fernanda tonight, maybe Rubiaes tomorrow.

 

[peregrino_tom]

The statuary in honor of the hat makers is nice, and I was surprised to learn about what a horrible unhealthy job it was -- all that dye and chemicals were not good for the workers.

From Wikipedia
"Mad as a hatter" is a colloquial phrase used in conversation to refer to a crazy person. In 18th and 19th century England mercury was used in the production of felt, which was used in the manufacturing of hats common of the time. People who worked in these hat factories were exposed daily to trace amounts of the metal, which accumulated within their bodies over time, causing some workers to develop dementia caused by mercury poisoning. Thus the phrase "Mad as a Hatter" became popular as a way to refer to someone who was perceived as insane.

 

[renegadepilgrim]

I just finished on the 19th and there were plenty of pilgrims from Tui on. I walked the coastal route (literally) and didn't see a pilgrim until Tui. Buen Camino all!!!

Burn=Buen :wink:

 

[peregrina2000]

Thanks for the background on the hat industry, once again human vanity trumps human health. So sad. I had no idea about the origin of the Mad Hatter, how interesting.

Well, Tom, by now you're in or past Porto, so no point in my referring you to the Lisbon-Porto online CSJ guide. (Though there's also one from Porto-Santiago also, http://www.csj.org.uk/guides-online.htm) In the Lisbon-Porto guide, there are references to that albergue outside Mealhada (Sernadelo is the name of the hamlet, I believe), as well as some others earlier on. I hope you found some of them! My understanding also is that a few new municipal albergues have opened as well.

Can't wait to be regaled by all your observations and comments on the route. I hope you'll let me add them to the CSJ guide.

Bom caminho to you, soon to be buen camino, I assume. Laurie

 

[peregrino_tom]

Laurie - thanks for the good wishes. I walked a couple of days with Lisa from Kansas who has been using your guide successfully. Yes it was the Sernadelo one I saw. I've not spotted any municipals and if they are there they are keeping quiet about it!! I heard one woman (dutch?) has started a mini-albergue with 2 beds. I can get more details from the person who stayed there when I return. Also I heard one of the Bombeiros put someone up in freshly opened (separate male and female) dormitories. Not sure if this is a quasi-albergue thing (for Fatima?) or whether they,ve been constructed with some specific Bombeiros purpose in mind...
I'm fairly contentedly using the Brierley 2011 guide, as i need some kind of visual representation which is where the CSJ guides tend to come up a bit short (and that said by and avid CSJ-er)
cheers, tom

Renegade - that real coastal is pioneering stuff. I'm not attempting it this time but it'd be good to get the full report on it at some point.
PS I see the 'r' and 'e' are very close on the keyboard!

 

[renegadepilgrim]

The real coastal route (not the one in the Brierley book which is only for a day) is quite the adventure. I took extensive voice notes on my iPhone the first three/four days I was walking it before I turned inland. My only complaint was there is only one albergue for pilgrims in Marinha and it's not even in any of the online stuff I found....and in October, there are NO pilgrims at all walking this route...I was very lonely and felt very disconnected until I hit Tui then I felt better....If I had wanted a solo backpack trip, this would have been a great idea...but on the Camino, I like the fellowship of fellow pilgrims.

Glad you caught the spelling error...damn iPhone!!!